


overextension cuddles

by knaveofmogadore



Category: The Lorien Legacies - Pittacus Lore
Genre: Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Jadam - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-17 19:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14837349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knaveofmogadore/pseuds/knaveofmogadore
Summary: John overuses his ximic and comes home to Adam, who cares more about making sure that John is ok than telling him he's an idiot.





	overextension cuddles

The first thing John notices is black hair, dark eyes, pale hands. He had hoped that he could rest and lick his wounds in his apartment alone, but Adam is here. Why did he want to be alone again, when Adamus is guiding him to his bathroom, carefully watching his steps for him so that all he needs to do is lean against him.

He notices the methodical way Adam takes off what remains of his shirt, the careful and detached way he helps John remove his jeans. It’s all just clothing to him, all this skin is just part of John. His hands are so confident and sure when he guides him to the tub, filled without him even noticing. He can feel the muscles in Adam’s arms work to lift him against his back. When Adam talks it vibrates from his chest against John’s arm. He wishes he could catch what he said before he slips away.

The next thing John feels is water pouring over his hair, Adam’s arm around his shoulders, the edge of his frustrated muttering against his ear along with his breath. In spite of himself he grins with his eyes closed and turns to kiss what he hopes is Adam’s arm. His own skin is beyond what he can feel. The honestly in Adam’s words soothes something in his chest that sympathy and weariness cannot.

“Welcome back. You missed the bath, but you can go back to bed soon if you want. I wish you would,” Adam holds up one of John’s hands, the skin bright red and raw and unhealable in only the way John can do to himself, “you overextended yourself.”

He turns his hand and tangles their fingers together as Adam speaks, turning his frustration into fond exasperation. He knows Adam can sense the change in himself the same way he can, and that it’s the only reason he stops talking and holds his tongue for a better time, a time when John is actually paying attention to his words and not his presence. He wishes that Adam would talk, would give John something to lean into, something he can actually feel. Something more than the dull pressure of the water and the frustratingly chaste brush of Adam’s hands over his numbed skin.

When John sits up on his own and finally opens his eyes Adam reaches over him and lets the water drain. Clothes were not expected of him, only the most half assed of drying.

On his way to the bed the feeling began to come back into his skin. The distant chill of the hardwood against his feet, the unnatural burning in his hands. Never had their cheap cotton sheets felt so soft as when he spread out on them now. He buries his face in them and _breathes _. He can smell their combined shampoo and their detergent and the ramen Adam spilled once three months ago. He smells home in a set of sheets, feels it in the worn out lint balls against his bare body, and almost laughs at himself for it.__

__He notices Adam as soon as he enters the room. He never hears the footsteps, but a warm feeling follows him wherever he goes, for John. Adamus brings safety and a hand to hold and a voice at his back every time he enters a room. He wants to look at him. He wants to feel the way his hand rubs circles into his back even more._ _

__Adam knows that this is when John is listening, after all the times they have done this, but he puts off talking. Instead his leg slides over John’s hips and he settles there, straddling them with the ease and comfort few people have around him now. This, he thinks, is what he will never deserve. The methodical way Adam presses his hands into the muscles of his back and works the knots away. The relaxed pressure of his thighs against John’s hips. The way he stares him down when he gets like this, the way Adam cares for him and shows no fear for what he has become, the way he worries only for him and not for what he could do to Adam. _Adam _.___ _

____He thinks that maybe his boyfriend is hiding a legacy from him, something that makes hands magic, or relaxes muscles into jelly. He thinks that maybe Adam is just magic. Why else would he be so unafraid. Why else would he trust in John so much responsibility, the everlasting task of being himself, and staying this way. That way. In this moment, right now, the only parts of himself he knows are still there are the parts Adam is slowly massaging into the curve of his body._ _ _ _

____“You are not their savior John.”_ _ _ _

____And now the talking begins. Adam talks and John listens, because he knows that now he doesn't have the energy to answer. His hands trace and press along the lines of his back, the tensions in his shoulders, the curve of his waist as he talks. John can feel Adam’s concern through the press of his fingers. The words are important, he knows. Everything Adam says is important. In spite of that he finds himself lost in the sound of his voice, the gentle weight surrounds him like a blanket._ _ _ _

____“Are you here with me John?"_ _ _ _

____He hums in response. Adam’s hands fixate on his shoulders, his thumbs run gentle circles over the back of his neck._ _ _ _

____“What happened to pacifism?”_ _ _ _

____From anyone else that would be a flippant question, a sarcastic dig that would sit and fester in the bottom of John’s chest for days. From Adam, the question is open, honest, real. They were only ever honest in this bed. His answer is honest too, his voice hoarse and low and raw like the rest of his body._ _ _ _

____Pushing himself onto his forearms is harder than it should ever be, “Something Nine said, about not using my ximic even when a million people might need it in a day.”_ _ _ _

____He can feel Adam tense from his thighs, not his hands. It almost brings a smile to his face knowing that some things never change, like the love-hate relationship Adam has with their friend. Still he never interrupts him, he keeps his comments to himself, for John. Sometimes, for John._ _ _ _

____“It sat with me, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. How is it less selfish to use it? If I can’t get rid of it, why shouldn’t I use if for other people? That’s different, isn’t it? So I wanted to see if it _was _different, if there was something this power could do for someone besides me.”___ _ _ _

______“And then once you started, you could not stop until you dropped out of the sky.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______John huffs out a weak laugh and rests once more on his chest. This time he props his head up on some of their pillows._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah, something like that. I didn’t want to stop, and then I passed out and woke up at home. With you.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You don’t have to use it. Why would you, when the entire world finally has the tools to take care of themselves. You can rest for a while longer.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______John notices the slow and careful way Adam moves now. The lightest touch to brush his hair away from is neck. The slow, halting way he moves closer, the questioning way he touches his sides and asks to hold him. John nods and Adam settles down on top of him, his chest to his back, his arms slide underneath his shoulders. A gentle press of Adam’s lips to the patch of skin underneath his ear. An even gentler kiss pressed to the back of his neck, the side, and the base._ _ _ _ _ _

______He notices the way Adam moves, how he settles slowly and carefully into the curves of John’s body and how obvious it is how hard he is trying not to hurt him. The idea that Adam could hurt him like this is absurd. John is not human, is not even a normal garde, but he never appreciates anything more than moments like this, the times when Adam treats him like he is._ _ _ _ _ _

______A shift of the breath up his neck to his ear, a murmerd ‘I love you’. An answer. A settling into sheets that smell weirdly of home._ _ _ _ _ _


End file.
